The invention relates, generally, to water softeners and, more particularly, to systems for monitoring the status of water softeners.
Domestic water softeners remove hardness from raw water by passing it through a tank containing a liquid treatment medium bed, typically formed of resin beads. A salt solution, that is brine, is passed through the resin bed to restore its softening capacity. The brine is formed in a container which is connected by a liquid flow passage to the tank containing the resin beads. The flow of liquid through the liquid flow passage is regulated by a control valve which is actuated by an electronic regeneration control circuit.
Salt, typically in the form of chunks or pellets, is placed in the container. Under the control of the electronic regeneration control circuit, the control valve allows a predetermined amount of water to enter the container. Provided enough salt is present, the water and salt form a saturated salt solution, or brine, which is the regenerant for the resin bed. Again, under the control of the electronic regeneration control circuit, the control valve is actuated to cause the brine to be withdrawn from the container and circulated through, and thereby regenerate, the resin in the tank.
The amount of salt remaining in the container is reduced each time a portion of the salt is dissolved to form a regenerant. The supply of salt will become exhausted after a number of regeneration cycles, unless additional salt is placed in the container. Such that the salt supply will not become exhausted, it is desirable to provide some type of alarm to indicate that the salt supply is close to being exhausted. Such an alarm may be formed as a part of the electronic regeneration control circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,087 is assigned to the instant assignee and discloses an example of an apparatus which detects a low level of salt and generates a corresponding low salt level alarm and is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,087 discloses an apparatus for providing a regeneration solution to a regenerable liquid treatment medium bed including an electronic regeneration control circuit for controlling the regeneration of a liquid treatment medium bed with regenerant solution formed in a container by dissolving a quantity of solid material in a liquid. The container in which the regenerant solution is formed is provided with indicia spaced apart in a vertical direction. The indicia are observable with respect to the top surface of the quantity of solid material received in the container. An electronic control circuit includes a manual input means for entering the amount of solid material available in the container in terms of the observed indicia most closely corresponding to the top surface of the solid material. The electronic control circuit includes means for electronically reducing, each time a quantity of regenerant solution is used to regenerate the liquid treatment medium, the electronically stored indication of the amount of solid material remaining in the container. The apparatus includes an alarm means which is actuated to provide an alarm when the electronically stored indication of the amount of solid material remaining in the container is less than a predetermined minimum amount.
The prior art systems require the user to observe the display panel located on the water softener. However, the water softener may not be conveniently located near the user. Thus it is desirable to provide a remote water softener indicator located at a convenient location for the user.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a system for monitoring the status of a water softener. The system includes a water softener and a water softener controller with a means for determining the status of the water softener. The system also includes a water softener transmitter that is coupled to the water softener controller. The water softener transmitter transmits the status of the water softener to a water softener status indicator. The water softener status indicator receives and displays the status message. The system is capable of determining whether the water softener is operating normally, whether the salt level is low or whether the water softener needs servicing.